Hazards Planning Center
Planning Information Exchange
Project Overview
With a new award agreement granted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the successful Planning Information Exchange (PIE) webinar series has been extended for two additional years, starting October 1, 2022. APA will continue to act as the lead in an agreement with FEMA, with the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) as a partner. The quarterly webinars will continue to revolve around four central themes:
- The information exchange focuses on all hazards.
- The information exchange focuses primarily on mitigation planning but also its connections with recovery planning and preparedness.
- APA and ASFPM act as co-conveners of all planning exchange webinars. This means that both organizations will use their respective web-based meeting platforms to set up, register, drive, facilitate, record, and provide technical support for all webinar meetings.
- Planning exchange hosts select topics and commit to moderating, presenting, and leading the planning exchange webinars.
PIE is launching a three-part series, "Multi-Hazard Mitigation for All," on May 18, 2023. This series will dive deep into how communities can address more than one hazard, starting from a foundation of emerging practices, identifying case examples that took equitable action, and encouraging participants to take steps to mitigate hazards through financing and implementation tools.
The Only Constant is Change: Hazard Mitigation Updates
May 18, 2023, at 12 PM CST
CM | 1.5
Hazard mitigation practices evolve to address developing conditions and enhance community resilience. One recent change is FEMA’s new Local Mitigation Planning Policy Guide, released in April 2022 and going into effect in April 2023. This new guidance connects various federal programs and promotes whole-community mitigation investments. Planners and floodplain managers can prepare for these changes, and be better prepared to address multiple hazards, by learning from firsthand accounts of plan development processes.
This first installment of the Planning Information Exchange will emphasize broad approaches to hazard mitigation practices, focusing on updated guidance for plan development. It will provide examples of how communities on the ground are adapting floodplain management and planning practices to align with recent updates. Further, it will highlight how hazard mitigation plan development can promote equitable outcomes for underserved community members.
Learning Outcomes
- Build a foundational understanding of hazard mitigation plan development.
- Understand how recent changes to guidance help communities address risk and vulnerability.
- Identify connections between hazard mitigation case examples and equitable practices.
Nathan Slaughter is a certified professional planner and floodplain manager with over twenty-four years of experience in hazard mitigation planning, disaster recovery planning, business development, and project management. Brenda Defoe is the Director of Planning for the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, where she ensures uniformity across the diverse work led by the council across its eight-county region. Benjamin Almquist is the Director of Emergency Management for the City of Charleston, where he focuses on all-hazards disaster planning and management, as well as FEMA mitigation and recovery. Jo Peña, AICP, is a research associate at the American Planning Association.
Meet the Presenters

Presenter
Nathan Slaughter, AICP, CFM

Presenter
Brenda Defoe-Suprenant

Presenter
Benjamin Almquist

Moderator
Jo Pena, AICP
View Past Webinars
View Presentations from Past Webinars
Previous webinars are available to be viewed anytime and anyplace shortly after their debut.
- Foresight and Scenario Planning for Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation (October 31, 2022) CM | 1
- Lost In Planning: Interdependent Vulnerabilities And Compounding Climate Threats (September 27, 2022) CM | 1
- Equitable Hazard Mitigation: Practice-Informed Recommendations for Change (July 25, 2022) CM | 1
- New Research on State Resilience Planning Practices (May 26, 2022) CM | 1
- The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: A Primer for Planners and Floodplain Managers (December 15, 2021) CM | 1
- Addressing Urban Heat at Regional and Local Scales (October 15, 2021) CM | 1
- The Law's the Limit: Sea Level Rise Adaptation and Local Government (September 3, 2021) CM | 1.5
- Linking Conservation and the FEMA Community Rating System: Tools to Protect Habitat, Enhance Coastal Resilience and Reduce Flood (April 15, 2021) CM | 1.5
- USACE Inundation Mapping (December 18, 2020) CM | 1
- Planning for Wildfire: From Assessing Risk to Long Term Mitigation (November 20, 2020) CM | 1.5
- Visualization and Datasets for Flood Loss Reduction (October 27, 2020) CM | 1.5
- Increasing Our Resiliency to Urban Flooding (November 21, 2019) CM | 1.5
- Planning for Drought and Cascading Hazards (August 15, 2019) CM | 1.5
- Go Green with GASB62! (April 25, 2019) CM | 1.5
- Flood Economics (February 13, 2019) CM | 1.5
- Current Research Topics in Disasters, Hazard Mitigation, and Resilience (October 9, 2018)
- Flood Risk Reduction: Putting Planning Into Practice (July 18, 2018)
- The Fire/Flood Dynamic: Linkages, Tools, and Actions (May 15, 2018)
- Flood Hazard Mitigation in Historic Districts (January 31, 2018)
- Planning Integration for Resilience Scorecard (October 4, 2017)
- Naturally Resilient Communities (May 30, 2017)
- Post-Disaster Temporary Housing: Urban Planning Considerations (March 23, 2017)
- Subdivision Design and Flood Hazard Areas (December 2, 2016)
- State Resiliency Initiatives: From Issue to Action! (September 22, 2016)
- Combining Climate Adaptation and Hazard Mitigation Plans (July 7, 2016)
- Know Your Dam Risk! (May 6, 2016)
- Adapting Urban Vacant Land to Mitigate Hazards (February 26, 2016)
- Hazard Mitigation Implementation (December 10, 2015)
- Hazards Planning and Resilience: The Elected Official's Perspective (October 19, 2015)
- Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience (June 30, 2015)
- The Role of Hazard Mitigation in Post-Disaster Recovery (May 6, 2015)